* * *
Farah was tossing and turning in bed when she heard the distant sound of thunder.
Great. A storm was coming. At least she was home in her bed this time, her small, narrow bed that didn’t seem to fit her any more. But then what would after the opulence of the Shomas Palace? Not that she missed the palace, exactly, but right now, when she could feel the coldness seeping in from outside, she missed the prince inside the palace. The prince she wasn’t thinking about any more.
Slowly she became aware of voices outside her hut and the thunder that seemed to grow exponentially louder with every passing second. Thunder that was so loud it didn’t sound like thunder at all.
Quickly climbing out of bed, she felt around on her chest of drawers for her trousers and tunic and slapped her boots against the floor before shoving her feet into them. Hopefully she wouldn’t need socks because she didn’t have time to look for any.
As soon as she stepped outside she had to put her hand up to shield her face from the circles of light surrounding their village—or what she realised were helicopters dropping from the sky like huge, black alien spaceships.
There was a sense of chaos amongst those who had been woken by the noise and Farah could see her father’s men rallying to ward off any attack.
‘Wait!’ She rushed forward and shoved her way to the front of the gathering group. Her father was nowhere in sight but Amir looked set to kill.
She put her hand on his arm to stay him. They’d had a talk when she’d returned to the village a week ago and had fallen into an uneasy friendship, which basically meant that he avoided her at all costs. Something she completely understood.
What she didn’t understand was why Zach was striding toward her, backlit by the now silent helicopters, his security team lined up behind him.
‘Hello, Farah.’
Hello?
He invaded her village with an army and said hello? ‘Zach? What are you doing here? Are you trying to start a war?’
‘Not quite.’ He stepped forward directly in front of her. ‘I’ve come to talk to you.’
‘At this time of the night?’ Her heart was racing at the sight of him and she gave up trying to steady it. ‘What could be so important it couldn’t wait till morning?’
‘Us. The future.’
The divorce. He was here about the divorce. Feeling completely stupid she took a moment to compose herself. ‘Look,’ she began haltingly, ‘I haven’t put the divorce petition into the court yet, but I will, I’m just—’
Zach took hold of her hands and she was embarrassed to feel them shaking. ‘I’m not here about the divorce, habiba.’ He squeezed her icy fingers. ‘But what I have come to discuss I’d prefer to do so without an audience—or a line of guns trained on me. Is there somewhere private we can go?’
Wishing he had just sent a letter—or an emissary—to do his bidding she pulled out of his reach and glanced behind him. ‘If you wanted private you shouldn’t have brought a thousand men.’
‘Only fifty.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘Nadir insisted on it.’
‘What the blazes is this about, Darkhan?’ Her father’s sleep-roughened voice bellowed from behind them. Farah sighed as he pushed through the growing pack of villagers. So much for hoping her father might sleep through her final humiliation. He stopped in front of the prince. ‘You have some nerve turning up like this.’
‘Yes, sir. I’ve come for your daughter.’
Farah blinked, wondering if she had heard right.
‘A man should know how to make his wife happy,’ her father said. ‘I made a promise to her mother many years ago that I would make sure she married well.’
Farah turned to him. ‘You did?’
‘Your mother said it would take a strong man to handle you. She was right. I never could.’ He looked at Zach. ‘That night in your shiny palace I saw something in your face when you looked at my daughter. Was I wrong?’
‘No, sir. I love her.’
A murmur rippled through the crowd huddling together against the cold. Farah couldn’t feel it. Heat was racing through her on a wave of embarrassment. ‘By Allah.’ She turned to her father. ‘He doesn’t love me. He’s just saying that because—’ She frowned, turning back to Zach. ‘Why are you saying that?’
He smiled. ‘Because it’s true.’
‘You love me?’
‘With all my heart.’